Wheel.



'T. J. THORP.

WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 2a. 1906.

Patented Feb. 16, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.'

T. J. THORP.

WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 23. 1906.

912,919. Patented Feb. 16, 1909. 2 SHEETS-SHEET z.

Thomas J. Tnonr, or OORVA-LLiS, O-REGON.

WHE L.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 16, 1909.

Applleafion filed April 23, 190d. Serial No. 813,338

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS citizenof thelU nited States, residing at Cor vallis, in the county of Benton and State of Oregon, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Wheels, of which the following is a specification.

. My invention relates particularly to metal wheels and my primary object is to provide a strong, resilient and durable wheel which can be manufactured'at a moderate price and'the parts of which can be readily assembled.

Theinvention .is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whi'c h=- F1 re 1 is. a side elevatio'nal view of a whee constructed accordance with my invention; Fig. 2, an enlarged broken sec tional view of. the hubsport'ion of the wheel;

Fig. 3, a broken sectional viewillustrating the connection between the outer or loop a broken side elevational view of a wheel of' ends of the spokes; Fig. 4, an inner face view of one of the hub sections employed, ortions of certain of the spokes being shown; i'g. 5, a perspective view of fragments of-two s okes and the tie-member c'oimecting them; ig. 6,

heavier construction than that'shown' in Fig.

- '1, two series ofspokes being em loyed in the wheel in this form; Fig. 7, a bro en sectional view of the wheel'shown in Fig. 6; Fig. 8, an inner view showing a develo ment of the portion of the tire employe in the construction shown in Figs. 6 and 7, this view showing, also, the sockets which receive the outer or loose ends 'ofthe spokes; Fig; 9', a s milar view of a .tire with sockets for receivmg as'mgle series of spokes, the tire being wider than the spokes; Fig. '10, a similar view showing a tire and spokes of approximately the same width, rendering unnecessary the useof socket-plates at the tire; and Fi 11, a sectional view taken as indicated at inc 11 of Fig. 10.

Referring to Figs. 1 to inclusive and Figs.

l0 and 11, the wheel there shown comprises a tire A formed of steel-channel bar having its ends welded together at a, loop-form spokes 3 having their loop, e'nds fitting within the channel of the tire in the manner shown in.

Figs. 10 and 11; a hub comprising sections 0, C and a barrel or thinible C Each spoke B is formed of a bar of steel curved to form a loop end I) and having radial members bhwhose inner ends are turned away from each other at approximately'right-angles to the'members to form retainer ends, or socket- J THORI-Qfl l entering portions 1)". Adjacent members I) of adjacent spokes are tied together by members 6 each member I) having two curved channels I) for receiving the curved portions of the spokes. As shown, the channels b are formed partially in curveclwings b with which each member I) is PIOXlClGtl, and each wing b has an opening I) through which the spoke may be passed beneath the 5 loop I) in making the connections. Each of the hub-sections C, C is provided on its inner vertical surface with laterally open sockets a, each socket being formed to receive a re-. tainer-b and the adjacent portion of the member b of two adjacent spokes. Said hub-sections are formed with central bores for receiving the tubular member 0 The member 0 has an enlargement c, which may be of hexagonal form externally to receive a wrench; and at the other end is a cam or screw-thread c which works within a groove vor thread in the hub-section 0. Thus, when the spokes are entered in the sockets of the hub-sections, the hub-sections may, be clamped together by turning the hub-sectionC in its place. The set screw c with which the hubsection C is equipped serves to secure the tubular memberagalnst accidental displacement. The dotted lines in Fig. 3 indicate the manner of assembling the spokes with relation to the tie-member b and it will be understood that after they are assembled with relation to the tiemembers and inserted within the tire, the hubsections are put in place, force being em\- ployed to cause the inner ends of the spokes to enter the hub-sections, if necessary. When thus assembled, the parts are under sufiicient com ression to cause the spokes to fit tightly 'wit in the tire. The assemblage of the parts isaccomplished without the employment of bolts or screws. 1 It will be observed that undue deformation of the'tire will be resisted by all the spokes; and that undue deformation'of the spokes will be resisted by the mutual reinforcement owing to. the tying together of-the spokes at their arched portions. At the same time, the spokes and tire are of resilient material, so t at a desirable resiliency in the wheel'is attained, sufiicient to prevent breakage in the even; of violent concussion or. great shock.-

-In the construction shown in Figs. .6, 7, and 8; A represents a tire; B B two series form equipped. within its channel with socket of loop-form spokes; C 0 and C hub-sections; and C", atubular member joining said hub-sections together and forming a bearing for the axle. In this construction, which is adapted for a'heavy class of work, the channel-form tire A receives within its channel socket-plates a having staggered recesses at I for receiving the outer loop ends of the l spokes. The hub-sections C C are similar to the hub-sections'C C and the intermediate hub-section C has laterally open sockets 0 bearing a staggered relation and co-acting with the sockets'of the hub-sections C C.

In Fig 9, A represents a tire of-channelplates 0, having depressions a in the same. plane, perpendicularto the axis of the wheel, the depressions a being of suflicient width to confine the loop ends of the spokes laterally. This construction is useful where the channel of the tire is of greater width than the spokes. In all of the illustrations, the general construction of the wheel is the same. A detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no undue limitation is to be understood therefrom.

What I regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is l A wheel comprising a tire provided with means wherein the loop ends ofloop-form spokes may be entered, loop-form spokes having their loop ends. entered in the tire, boltless tie-members having channels receiving adjacentportions of adjacent spokes less width than the channel of the tire,'loopform spokes having their loop ends received by said socket-plates, and hub-sections connected with the inner ends of the spokes.

3; A wheel comprising a channel-form tire, socket-plates within the channel of the tire having spoke receiving depressions bearing astaggered relation' to each other, two series of loop-form spokes having their loop-ends received by the socket-plates, and hub-sections having sockets receiving the inner ends-of the spokes.

4. A wheel comprising a tire, two series of loop-form spokes having their received by the tire and their mner ends bent to form retainers, an intermediate hubsection having laterally open sockets, two outer hub-sections having laterally open sockets on their inner faces, and means securing said hub-sections together.

' THOMAS J. THORP.

In presence of A. U. THORIEN; J..H. LANDES.

loop-ends 

